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What are the effects of colonialism?

Answer

One of the main objectives of imperialism and colonialism was to exploit the colonies
and their inhabitants to generate economic wealth for the mother country and her
corporations. As a result, large numbers of people were forced into slavery or the system
of indentured laborers, and vast areas of natural habitats were cleared and converted to
monocultural plantations.

Another impact of imperialism was the export of Western values - resource exploitation,
consumerism and materialism to the colonies. In the meantime, the Enlightenment began
to shift West societies towards values such as democracy, independent judiciary, free
press and escape from religious tyranny. These, when well developed offer checks and
balances against excessive concentration of power and corruption, and some safeguards
against environmental predation.

After the colonies gained independence, the newly independent citizens uncritically
embraced most of the negative values and have vigorously continued the practices of
their early colonial masters.

One man who fought against the blind adoption of materialistic values was of course
Gandhi. Alas, no one can be a prophet in his own land.

As a result, in the former colonies, the environment, especially natural habitats and their
species, is being destroyed at a scale that is unprecedented in history.

What was the impact of colonialism in west Africa?

History of Colonialism

Colonialism is the practice of creating settlements in lands geographically distant from


the parent land. Historically, this has often involved killing or subjugating the indigenous
population. With the spread of Hellenic and Roman culture and technology by the Roman
Empire, the Renaissance and the Enlightenment of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries
and the Industrial Revolution of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, most of the
world has at some point been colonized by a European country. The most notable
colonial powers were Rome, Greece, Britain, France, Spain, Portugal, the Netherlands,
and Denmark.

The ascension of the colonialism ideology was based on the belief that colonies were an
essential attribute of any great nation. Whether the reason was economic, political, or
diplomatic the quest for overseas possessions was of paramount concern for European
nations. Thus more explorations took place, and these events took on a new meaning. In
the decade preceding the Berlin Conference in which fourteen western nations attended
the three-month session was(is) considered to be the crux of European colonialism.
Europeans needed to satisfy the material necessities of Europe; therefore, the dream of an
African empire developed as an avenue for the investment of surplus capital, and as a
boost to national prestige. In essence, the Berlin Conference was very important in
African history because of the way it sought to minimize competition among the
European colonial powers in their haste to acquire mineral rich lands in Africa. Debate
about the perceived positive and negative aspects of colonialism has occurred for
centuries, amongst both colonizer and colonized, and continues to the present day.

Political impact

The Africa of a century ago consisted of a large number number of independent states.
Some of these states were large and powerful; others were smaller and weaker. When the
Europeans finished drawing their lines of partition, these states had been condensed into
about 50 pieces of territory all of which came under European colonial rule. The
systematic, indiscriminate partition (scramble) drawn without any well defined, regional
criteria in full cognizance of the ethno cultural, geographical and ecological realities of
Africa brought different ethnic groups (tribes) having different historical traditions,
cultures and speaking different languages under one or more colonial power. This
situation disrupted the political development of these social groups; furthermore, ethnic
groups were cleaved into fragments. These lines of partition also run-across pre- existing
nations, ethnicities, states, kingdoms and empires. The Ewes for instance are divided by
the boundary between Ghana and Togo while akan are found in the ivory coast and in
Ghana. The Senufo now live in Mali, the Ivory Coast and in Burkina Faso. This explains
the border disputes between Burkina Faso and Mali ect. These lines also brought about
The uneven sizes and unequal distribution of natural resources and economic
potentialities of these states. Some of the states emerged from the partition as giants e.g.
Nigeria with an approximated area of 357,000 square miles, whiles others came out as
midgets e.g. Gambia with an approximated area of 4000 square miles. Some states have
few boarders e.g. Gambia with one boarder whiles others had many boarders e.g. Mali
with seven boarders. This makes it difficult to check the problems of security and
smuggling.

Even though the partition has negative impacts it also contributed to The appearance of
independent African states of today. The partition of Africa by imperial colonial powers
boundaries, in place of the innumerable lineage and clan groups, city states, kingdoms
and empires without any fixed boundaries. It is significant that the boundaries of these
states have been maintained ever since independence.
Colonialism caused the loss of sovereignty which is the loss of the right of a state to
control its own destiny, to play in its own development, to conduct its own diplomacy
and internal relations, to decide which outside nations to associate with or to emulate and
above all to manage or even mismanage its own affairs, derive pride and pleasure from its
success and derive lessons, frustration and experience from its failures. Many African
nationalists and critics of colonialism see the independence gained from the withdrawing
colonial powers as only partial liberation. Some call it 'false independence'. Full or real
freedom, they believe, will come with economic independence. African nations are said
to be currently in a phase of neo-colonialism - a new form of imperial rule stage managed
by the colonial powers to give the colonized the illusion of freedom. At the 1961 All-
African People's Conference held in Cairo neo-colonialism was defined as "the survival
of the colonial system in spite of the formal recognition of political independence in
emerging countries which become the victims of an indirect and subtle form of
domination by political, economic, social, military or technical means." The implication
is that western powers still control African nations whose rulers are either willing puppets
or involuntary subordinate of these powers.

The other type of subjugation that emerged in Africa which was, in effect, an economic
extension of colonialism was settlerism. It has been established by a number of historians
and political theorists that white settlers in Africa, or in other areas for that matter, took
land for themselves, and in the process exacted political control over its indigenous
inhabitants. Settler communities ignored and opposed all pleas for African education,
promotion of Africans to responsible jobs, or the exercise of political rights such as the
freedom to express political ideas or form political organizations.

Colonialism bred political crisis. In disrupting pre-colonial political systems that


worked for Africans and imposing alien models, colonialism laid the seeds of political
crisis, say its critics. By redrawing of the map of Africa, throwing diverse people together
without consideration for established borders, ethnic conflicts were created that are
destabilizing the continent. The new nation-states were artificial and many were too small
to be viable. Less than a third of the countries in Africa have populations of more than 10
million. Nigeria, the major exception to this, was imbued with ingredients for its self-
destruction. Western multi-party democracy imposed by colonial powers polarized
African societies. "It was the introduction of party politics by colonial administration that
set off the fire of ethnic conflicts in Nigeria," wrote one Itodo Ojobo in the New Nigerian
newspaper in 1986.

One of the most important social impact colonialism had on west Africa is The
introduction of new bureaucracy of civil servants and a new judiciary system. These
institutions especially the judicial system have not undergone any fundamental changes
in any of the independent states.

SOCIO - CULTRAL IMPACT

Urbanization: Not only did pre-existing towns expand, but completely new urban centers
emerged following the establishment of the colonial system e.g. Abidjan in ivory coast,
takoradi in Ghana, port Harcourt and enugu in Nigeria. All these new urban centers were
created either as ports or harbors, mining centers, administration center ect. The
population of Accra jumped from 17,892 in 1901 to 135,926 in 1948. There is no doubt
the quality of life for West Africa's population was improved through the provision of
piped water, hospitality, better housing and sanitary facilities.

Christian and Islam and expansion of western education during the colonial period.
Christianity gained far more converts and penetrated further. Islam also gained a lot of
grounds . the spread of western education was mainly due to the action of the Christian
missionaries. by 1930s there were very few areas in West Africa where elementary
education wasn't common. By 1940 universities also became common in almost all the
colonies except in the Portuguese and Belgium colonies. Every modern West African
state is thankful to its colonial master for introducing western education. Only reactionary
aristocrats in northern Nigeria would today thank the British for keeping out western
education in their region. It is clear to most northerners that they were placed at a
disadvantage to the south by the educational gap between the two regions.

Provision of lingua franca for each colony. Almost all the colonies adopted a colonial
language for communication which broke the ethnic language barrier between tribes.

Colonialism have, in many respects, distorted and abrogated the essence of West African
cultural norms and institutions. The systematic approach that the European invaders
utilized to usurp land in Africa has contributed greatly to the disunity and dysfunction of
indigenous West Africans; coups take place in Africa not because Africans cannot govern
themselves, but because West African leaders have inherited a colonial legacy that tends
to pit African against African, or brother against brother. This schism can be traced
directly to the different types of colonial masters that held sway on the continent. Each
colonial power pursued a cultural policy that it believed would give it efficacious results,
and a policy that was in tune with his philosophy of colonial administration.

Economic impact

The prime legacy of colonialism was the integration of colonies into the international
capitalist economy. It enables African elites to consume products of western civilization
without having to go through the difficult and long-term process of building the
productive base of their societies. It is far easier to shop in the global market than try to
build industries yourself.

One important economic benefit was the provision of infrastructure of roads, railways,
harbors and ports, the telegraph and telephone. the basic infrastructure of every modern
African state was completed during its colonial period. Some states have not improved
upon the colonial infrastructures even after impendence.

Development of the primary sector of Africa's economy happened during the colonial
period. It was during this period that the mineral potential of many African states were
discovered and modern scientific mining introduced. above all, it was during this period
that the productions of such cash crops like cotton, peanuts, palm, cocoa ect. Became the
main feature of the political economy of many African states.

The transportation and communication infrastructure that was provided was not only
inadequate but was also very unevenly distributed in nearly all the colonies. The roads
and railways were built in areas with the potential for cash crops and with mineral
deposits. They were actually meant to facilitate the exploitation of African resources but
not to promote the accessibility and the development of all the regions in the economy.

Colonialism saddled the most colonies with monocrop economies. During the colonial
period, each colony was made to produce a single cash crop or two and no attempts were
made to diversify the agricultural economy. The habit of producing these single cash
crops appears to have become so ingrained that it has not been changed to any
appreciable degree since independence. Africans were encouraged to produce what they
don't consume and to consume what they don't produce. It is lamentable that the legacy
ahs not changed materially in most of the African states. To this day they have to rely on
the importation of edible oil, rice, maize and other food stuff to survive.

West Africa's poor states gained little or nothing from colonialism. But its elites bloomed
as a result of it. They were given a ladder to climb the global pyramid. West African
wealthy states e.g. Nigeria who today lives on the upper layers of the pyramid, certainly
owe their fortune to colonialism. Without opportunities created by the linking of Africa to
the western world, it is unlikely that indigenous ruling classes would have catapulted
themselves from pre-capitalist levels of wealth to modern bourgeoisie affluence. So the
answer to the often posed question, 'did Africans benefit from colonialism' is, the elites
definitely gained while the poor majority did not.

As there is no basis to assume that Africans would have independently developed


electricity, the motor engine and other products of advanced technologies, it is fair to
suppose that if Africa had not been colonized it would today still have to grapple with
problems of economic development. Africa would have needed to import western
technology and therefore would have had to export something to pay for it. Like other
pre-industrial societies, African nations would invariably have had to trade minerals and
agricultural commodities for western manufactures. So Africa's position in the
international economy, particularly as a producer of primary products for industrialized
countries, should not be blamed solely on colonialism. It is largely a function of unequal
development.

However, had Africa not been colonized, the likelihood is that its elites would still have
wanted to consume the products and services of western industrial nations. It is unlikely
that African chiefs and traders would have been content with the simplicity of communal
life to shut off their communities from Western advances. If during the slave trade, rulers
and traders happily waged wars and sold fellow humans to buy beads, guns and second-
hand hats, one can only imagine what they would have done if faced with offers of cars,
televisions, MacDonald's etc. Undoubtedly, without colonization African societies would
still have sought industrialization and western type modernization, as have peoples in
virtually every other region in the world.
Impacts of colonialism in africa?

colonialism brought about


1. Education ie the building of schools.
2. Religion ie the spreading of the gospel.
3. Through colonialism some traditional practice were eliminated.
4. Through colonialism, our chiefs were left with no option than to accept
orders from the white men.
5. Through colonialism our minerals were taken away.
6. our fore fathers were force against their will to fight for them(the white
men)

Impact of Colonialism: (Dependency Theory)

A. Who were the colonizers?


England, France, Holland, Portugal, Italy, Germany, Japan, United States

B. Who was colonized?


Latin America: All countries
Africa: All countries except Ethiopia
Asia: All countries except Thailand, Japan, China (affected)
Mid East: All countries colonized or influenced except Turkey

C. Impact of colonial rule:

1. boundaries, inclusion and division of cultural groups.


Africa: Berlin Conference 1885
Africa map 1913 | World Map 1948
Afghanistan Pakistan Durand Line/Treaty, 1893
How many Somalia/Somalilands?

2. demography: nature of mix between indigenous peoples and European

3. culture: language, religion, culture of modernization, science


secularism
emulate colonizers,
Psychology: cultural self hate linked to victimization of colonialism,
violence as a way to recover self-confidence

4. colonial government, detached from traditional political and social


order, linked to colonial
culture:
Political culture of rulers: conquest, exploit, repress, tax, build
infrastructure,
prevent autonomous political organization.

Political culture of ruled: subject culture, withdraw, resist


traditional "subject" culture (not "participant").

5. economy:

urbanization, transportation infrastructure


export primary materials
gold -- from Latin America. Spanish treasure fleet
Much gold lost in shipwrecks links | Florida - 2 | Key
West
Ag: beverages: coffee, tea, cocoa
edible oils: peanuts, palm
fibers: cotton, jute, sisal, kenef, manila
spices: sugar, other spices
rubber
Minerals: metal ores, diamonds, petroleum
import manufactured goods
Transport vehicles, power generation, machinery

6. global influences: health (population growth), mass media (films,


music, clothing)

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